Empty Bomb Threat Causes Heated Debate

Although a disturbing message found scrawled on a desktop in Irvington's Main Street School proved to be an empty threat, the debate surrounding it has been anything but.

On May 19, just one day after last month's contentious school board elections, a bomb threat was discovered among the otherwise innocuous graffiti cluttering the Main Street School's art room desktops. 

The principal was immediately notified, as well as Irvington Police and the district superintendent.

"It was very surprising and upsetting to find such a message in a building for fourth and fifth-graders," Raina Kor, principal of Main Street School, said. "But we took it very seriously."

Since school had already been dismissed when the note was discovered, no evacuations or other potentially startling steps needed to be taken to secure the building. Irvington Police worked in conjunction with the Westchester County Bomb Squad to scour the school for evidence of fowl play. None was found.

That day, Kor sent a letter to the parents of students in Main Street School, indicating that a disturbing message had been found and all the necessary safety precautions had been taken; however, Kor indicated that no further details could be discussed because releasing more information could hinder the police's investigation.

But there was one vital piece of information many parents feel should have been disclosed earlier—the date and time the message indicated the bomb would go off: 7:34 a.m., June 8.

"The reference to June 8 was useful for investigative purposes," Sergeant Michael Foley, of Irvington Police, said. "Because they found the note the day after school board elections, it meant anyone in the building either during the school day or at night could have written it." 

But some parents felt their right to decide whether to send their kids to school that day took precedence over finding the culprit, or even disagreed that withholding information would, in this case, help solve the crime.

"I have been a journalist for 25 years, so I understand that certain disclosures can hinder an investigation," David Kaplan, a district parent, said. "But that case was not made in this situation. If there's a bomb scare, I believe parents are entitled to make their own decisions."

Irvington Police Chief Michael Cerone stands behind the police department and the school district's mode of operations. 

"There is a necessary protocol we follow in this type of situation," Cerone said. "We did our diligent duty to keep everyone safe without losing the integrity of the investigation." 

Cerone added that releasing the date before it had passed would have caused "mass hysteria" among parents, something he wanted to avoid. 

Before school hours on June 8, the Westchester County Bomb Squad returned to Main Street School with bomb-sniffing dogs and searched the building once again.

"That day everyone had to enter the school from the front entrance only," Kathleen Matusiak, district superintendent, said. "We also called in increased security and installed a trained security guard to sit at the front desk—there was never a safer day at Main Street School than June 8, 2010."

And because June 8 also happened to be the night of school board meeting—which could or could not have been a coincidence—the bomb squad was called in to secure the Irvington High School library before the meeting as well.

"I have just written and sent a letter to everyone in the district revealing the specifics of the bomb threat found last month in Main Street School," Matusiak said at the start of the Board of Education meeting.  "I couldn't reveal anything until I had clearance from the police to do so." 

Because she eventually did disclose the full contents of the message in her June 8 letter, Matusiak said it was never the school's intent to keep information from the community.

"The police made all the decisions with regard to information we could give parents," Matusiak said. "We absolutely did not want to withhold information for any other reason." 

Despite the school's eventual transparency, Kaplan and others still believe parents should have received the school's second communication in time to make their own decisions.

"My children are not in the Main Street School, but if they had been and I'd known about the bomb scare, I don't know what I would have done," Kaplan said. "As long as I knew the building was secure, I probably would have sent them to school, but my point is that parents were entitled to make that choice themselves."

Criminology expert and professor at John Jay School of Criminal Justice Dennis Kenney agrees with Kaplan's suggestion, saying that regardless of the need to safeguard the investigation, parents should have been notified sooner.

"It is not likely that holding on to the specifics in the note would assist police unless they had specific suspects in mind," Kenney said. "There are definitely ways in which not making information publicly available can lead to an arrest—but I do think that if police were no closer to finding the culprit by June 5, say, parents should have been notified."

Yet some Irvington parents, even, have supported the school's plan of action, saying it truly was in the best interest of their children.

"I think the school did the right thing," one parent wrote on the Irvington Parents Forum, an online group parents use to voice their opinions on school operations. "Having the bomb squad check the school on the very slim chance that the 'note' was not a hoax was reassuring. I am quite happy with the way the principal and the district handled this."

Other posts were not so complimentary.

"Do you mean to tell me that if there's a homicide or robbery or future threat reported on tonight's news, the police then are hindered from investigating?" Catherine Johnson asked, supporting Kaplan's demand that parents be kept abreast of all issues relating to their kids' safety. 

The case is still under police investigation, but the district hopes to put the event behind them and finish the school year on a high note.

"I am a parent also, so I completely empathize with how parents felt about this situation," Matusiak said. "I hope they understand we're hypersensitive to the needs of their children—sometimes it may seem as if we're trying to keep something from them, but that's not the case at all."